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User blog:TheToughGuy/My Review (Classic) - Manhunt series
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I decided to do a review for another awesome series by Rockstar Games. The formatting will be different and I'd like to try and do better than what I did for my review of the ''Grand Theft Auto ''series. Hopefully, I will do better. Just point out my mistakes if I do make any. ''Manhunt'' GAME INFO: Publisher: Take-Two Interactive & Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North Systems: PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox Rating: Mature "Rockstar's take on the horror and stealth genres". Now this is a fact: GTA ''put Rockstar on the map. Since the release of ''Grand Theft Auto 3 ''back in 2001, the gaming industry changed as players could now explore a 3D environment and do whatever they wanted. Rockstar knew they were the masters of making great video games afterwards. Back in 2003, they decided to make a psychological horror and stealth game. A game that could compete with horror titles such as ''Resident Evil ''and ''Silent Hill ''and with stealth games like ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ''series. The result was ''Manhunt. Being a least popular series compared to the GTA ''series, the one question is if ''Manhunt ''is a good game to play? The answer to that question is YES. '''STORY:' The game puts you in the shoes of James Earl Cash, a prisoner who was meant to be executed after being on death row for three years. He was sedated and put in a empty room only to be waken up by the voice of "The Director". The Director is using Cash for his snuff film ring that he has set all across Carcer City, a city not far from GTA's Liberty City. He promises Cash his freedom as long as Cash cooperates with the filming by killing everyone in his path. Everyone meaning these hunters that the Director hired to hunt him down. The first several missions start slow as Cash has to use melee weapons and not get spotted by his enemies. But farther in the night he goes, he soon gets his hands on firearms and that's when the scenes he partakes in gets more intense and dangerous. There are 20 missions in the game, excluding the 4 bonus missions. The story will last you probably around 20 hours or longer, depending on if you can overcome the enemies in your path and not get yourself killed nearly 10 times in each mission. The story is very good however, depending on if you can stand slow pacing. GAMEPLAY: Now this game is a psychological horror and a stealth game, so you'll need to know how to survive the night. There are shadows in almost every room and area of the city. They can be used to hide yourself from enemies. They will make you almost completely invisible from the enemies. However, they arn't always the safest places to be in. Enemies will walk into the shadows and they will find you if they touch you. And when you're running from enemies and they see you run into the shadows, they will still give chase to you no matter what. As players can't always defend themselves with their fists, there is a range of weapons that can be used. There are two types of weapons in the game: melee and firearms. Melee weapons range from disposable items like plastic bags and glass shards to solid items like baseball bats, blackjacks and blades. Melee weapons can be used to perform executions, which result in cinematic killings of enemies. Then there are firearms that can be used to drop enemies from a distance. You can't perform executions with guns at all in this game. Executions in this game are only performed by melee weapons like I mentioned a while ago. There are three types of executions that are performed with each weapon: hasty (white), violent (yellow) and gruesome (red). The more gruesome executions you perform, the higher your rating for each scene (as each story mission is rated by five stars like a movie). For each few missions you get a 3-star rating on, you either unlock artwork at the Special Features menu or unlock the bonus missions, which you can't earn stars on. Killing rewards you in the game. PROS & CONS: + 'Excellent story; it will scare the living shit out of you as there are moments where enemies will pop out of cover and give chase to you. Hanging dead bodies and piles of guts will also send chills down your back. '+ Cash is a perfect protagonist for this game. He doesn't care who he kills as long as he gets to his destination. Starkweather (aka The Director) is also the perfect antagonist. He makes players believe that he will grant Cash his freedom and then betrays Cash in the second-half of the game (typical Rockstar fashion). + 'The soundtrack is very good. Gives each mission a different feeling of suspense throughout the game. '- 'There's nothing to distract players from the killing. No puzzles that will prevent progression or "non-lethal" missions. There are times when you had to find a crowbar or a key just to pass through a door or gate, but those items weren't hidden to where it caused you some distractions. '''POINTS: '''4/5 ''Manhunt 2 '''GAME INFO: Publisher: Take-Two Interactive & Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar London, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Toronto & Rockstar Vienna Systems: PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii Rating: Mature, Adults Only "Fight for your life again". Rockstar did an excellent job with the first Manhunt. The game had a good plot, was scary and it was something original. It did however cause alot of controversy and was banned in several countries. And it wasn't a surprise when Take-Two revealed that Rockstar was making a sequel to their 2003 horror title, thus making alot of people outraged. But it's not the controversy of Manhunt 2 ''that I'm covering. Out of all the controversy that this game caused, it's not a bad. But I do think that Rockstar could have made it alittle better. You'll find out in this review. '''STORY:' Now as you guys must know, this isn't a direct sequel to the first game, meaning it doesn't pick up where the first game left off. It doesn't even feature any of the characters from the first game. This game acts more of a reboot or a spiritual successor. The protagonist for the game is Daniel Lamb, a former scientist for a government experiment known as the Pickman Project. Daniel wakes up in a asylum and soon escapes with fellow inmate Leo Kasper. After going to his old house and taking a drug to help him remember who Leo was, Daniel then goes around the city of Cottonmouth, trying to remember his past and who he was. It's during this quest that he runs into scientists that he worked with six years before and later finds out the shocking truth about Leo and his ambitions. It's also during this quest that Daniel has to avoid getting captured or killed by hunters that the Pickman Project send after him. The game consists of 15 missions, plus a alternative ending. It will probably last you right around 15 to 20 hours, depending on again how often you get killed and if you can stand the slow pacing. GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is almost the same as it was in the first game with a few additions. The shadows are still your reliable hiding place to be. However, unlike in the first game, there are button promps while in the shadows where you have to do them successfully to regulate Daniel or Leo's breathing. If not successful during the promps, the enemy will pull you out of the shadow and then start attacking you. Weapon variety is the same: melee and firearms. This time around, guns can be used for executions on enemies. It's the same as melee weapons: you just sneak behind the enemy and just perform the execution. There are no three levels of execution for the guns however like with the melee. In this game, the environment around you is alittle more interactive than on the first game. On the streets, there are pedestrians in some levels that will cause players some trouble if they bother or threat them in any kind of way. Climbing and crawling are added in the game to add the sense of exploration in the game. Lights can be smashed to give players more places to hide from enemies. Then, there are two different types of executions added in this game. The first one is called "environmental executions". These executions are marked by white skulls on the radar. They can be only used once and that's when a enemy is near one. They pretty much vary from smaching someone in the head with a manhole cover and then dropping them into the sewer to pushing someone head-first into a live fuse box. The last kind of execution is the "jump execution". This execution is triggered when players get near the ledge and then jump from the ledge onto a nearby enemy. Melee weapons are needed to perform these kinds of executions. Also added in this game are devices that can be used to cover any noise that you make. It's very reliable when you're hiding from the enemy and they outnumber you. PROS & CONS: +''' The story is good. It's not as good as the story for the first game, but it is something worth paying attention to while playing the game and it's still scary compared to the first game. '- '''Apart from the game having a good story, there are some plot holes. They are basically mentioned in the flashback missions. Whether they could be mentioning the History Museum and Sorority House levels that were cut or something else, it's not good to have plot holes. No one likes plot holes EVER. '+ Good to have an interactive environment where you can smash lights and and climb and crawl. The new executions are very good and nice to see pedestrians for once in the game. + 'Hunters are not the only thing you have to worry about. There are helicopters in the game that will spot you with their search light and shoot you if given the chance. This adds to the scare element in the game. '+ 'The music is still good. It, like in the first game, still gives each mission a different feeling of suspense. '- 'There are still no puzzles in the game to prevent players from progressing through the game. No "non-lethal" missions either. '- '''The censorship of the game takes away some of the horror element. Depending on the console versions, the censorship varies. On the PlayStation 2 and PSP, you get a somewhat hazzy sight of what Daniel is doing to his victims. On the family-friendly Wii, the executions blur out to where you can't see what is going on. The PC version isn't censored and therefore it's executions are clear as day. If you have a real strong stomach, I suggest getting the PC version to see all the executions and have that full feeling of horror. '''POINTS: 3.7/5 Category:Blog posts